Riyad Mahrez

[TakeChillPill]

Özil's replacement, if anything. Can't see him and Özil in the same starting eleven. Don't see us going back to 4231...we look excellent in 3421...beat City, Ut, Everton, Chelsea, Stoke away with that setup and won 12 out of 13...would be mad to revert back to the old formation.

 

[Mudi]

Özil's replacement, if anything. Can't see him and Özil in the same starting eleven. Don't see us going back to 4231...we look excellent in 3421...beat City, Ut, Everton, Chelsea, Stoke away with that setup and won 12 out of 13...would be mad to revert back to the old formation.

Why does he need to be a replacement instead of an addition?

Why can't we just rotate Sanchez-Lacazette-Özil-Mahrez in a front 3 system? Or maybe we are going to play 4-2-3-1 against smaller clubs and 3-4-3 against stronger teams?

The fact is however that we don't have a strong back-up for LW/RW position. We have Walcott, Perez, Chamberlain, Welbeck and Iwobi, none as good as Mahrez on the wings. Sell Walcott & Perez and if needed Chamberlain and buy Lemar/Mahrez. It should be a no-brainer.

 

[Rimaal]

Özil's replacement, if anything. Can't see him and Özil in the same starting eleven. Don't see us going back to 4231...we look excellent in 3421...beat City, Ut, Everton, Chelsea, Stoke away with that setup and won 12 out of 13...would be mad to revert back to the old formation.

Honestly Mahrez is a quality winger, which we desperately need btw. He'll play on the wing when we play 4-2-3-1. in a 3-4-3 Özil can drop deeper into midfield, same for a 3-5-2 (for all mentioned options we need a another decent DM).

He's also useful in rotation. We're playing Thursdays and the weekends this year, with a lot more games to play than the CL. We will need quality depth, not the sad sacks we've got on the bench at the mo.

I grant you, Lemar would be a better fit for us because he's so versatile, however, Mahrez will fit in beautifully with us, and he is a great player.

 

[carlito'sway]

Why does he need to be a replacement instead of an addition?

Why can't we just rotate Sanchez-Lacazette-Özil-Mahrez in a front 3 system? Or maybe we are going to play 4-2-3-1 against smaller clubs and 3-4-3 against stronger teams?

The fact is however that we don't have a strong back-up for LW/RW position. We have Walcott, Perez, Chamberlain, Welbeck and Iwobi, none as good as Mahrez on the wings. Sell Walcott & Perez and if needed Chamberlain and buy Lemar/Mahrez. It should be a no-brainer.

I am surprised that some are questioning Mahrez quality. Would be delighted to have him at the club and I think we have a good chance to get him. It is between him and Lemar at this point and at this point Lemar appears very unlikely. Mahrez is a double digits goals/ assists player and great talent.

 

[ArtetaCognition]

I am surprised that some are questioning Mahrez quality. Would be delighted to have him at the club and I think we have a good chance to get him. It is between him and Lemar at this point and at this point Lemar appears very unlikely. Mahrez is a double digits goals/ assists player and great talent.

I'm beginning to think you know a lot about football because you've been agreeing with me a lot recently.

 

[carlito'sway]

I'm beginning to think you know a lot about football because you've been agreeing with me a lot recently.

You can flatter yourself.....

 

[MutableEarth]

Mahrez is one of those players - when he's good, he's f*cking amazing, but when he's bad, he's terrible. I think you have to hope that if we sign him he shows up a little more consistently. He had one really great season, and a good half-season before that one. Last year he wasn't that good, but so was that whole Leicester team.

If I were to choose, I would rather see Nelson get more game time but I like Mahrez as a player so I don't think it's a bad thing if we sign him. It looks like a whole lot of paper talk though.

 

[TakeChillPill]

Why does he need to be a replacement instead of an addition?

Why can't we just rotate Sanchez-Lacazette-Özil-Mahrez in a front 3 system? Or maybe we are going to play 4-2-3-1 against smaller clubs and 3-4-3 against stronger teams?

The fact is however that we don't have a strong back-up for LW/RW position. We have Walcott, Perez, Chamberlain, Welbeck and Iwobi, none as good as Mahrez on the wings. Sell Walcott & Perez and if needed Chamberlain and buy Lemar/Mahrez. It should be a no-brainer.

I admire your optimism and rose tinted glasses. But when is the last time we've been stocked with multiple world beating quality in the same position? Last season he gave kante a miss, even though kante's preferred choice was arsenal.

Wenger is now buying a proper CF in lacazette 3 seasons late.

Dont get me wrong I love mahrez as a player, wanted him last season. I can only see this signing if Özil or Sanchez leaves. I base this on Wenger's behaviour virtually all his career.

Hope you're right. But I have my doubts. Maybe with Wenger knowing Mahrez wants out, he's going to try to get him on the cheap...if the £28m on the Leicester forum that's been banded about it true...I'd bite their hand off.

Just to reemphasis I'd absolutely love mahrez here...best and most natural dribbler in the league.

 

[hydrofluoric acid]

I am surprised that some are questioning Mahrez quality.

Are people though?

I've mostly question his mentality and consistency.

Dont think we often lack quality to win the games we draw or lose. Think we lsck the mentality more.

 

[TakeChillPill]

Honestly Mahrez is a quality winger, which we desperately need btw. He'll play on the wing when we play 4-2-3-1. in a 3-4-3 Özil can drop deeper into midfield, same for a 3-5-2 (for all mentioned options we need a another decent DM).

He's also useful in rotation. We're playing Thursdays and the weekends this year, with a lot more games to play than the CL. We will need quality depth, not the sad sacks we've got on the bench at the mo.

I grant you, Lemar would be a better fit for us because he's so versatile, however, Mahrez will fit in beautifully with us, and he is a great player.

Agree with your logic. Not doubting mahrez's quality. Just can't see Wenger not trying to balance the books. Even if we sign mahrez, lemar, mbappe along with lacazette...you really think Sanchez or Özil will be kept?

Sorry to sound pessimistic but we've been down a similar road before.

Hope we've turned a corner I'll guess we'll see on September 1st.

 

[neimad]

Mahrez was very good for Leicester in the Champions League last year. As has been said the whole team just seemed to focus on that. They obviously wanted Ranieri out so didn't bother showing up in the league (kinda like us for most of it). When the team started playing with Shakespeare in charge his performances picked up again. I think he'd do really well here. I'd prefer Lemar personally but if he's unattainable then Riyad is a good option.

Not sure if I'm buying these links though. They seem tenuous at best. Maybe wishful thinking from his agent to get his name out there.

 

[carlito'sway]

Are people though?

I've mostly question his mentality and consistency.

Dont think we often lack quality to win the games we draw or lose. Think we lsck the mentality more.

Last year it was clear that he did not want to be at Leicester and was completely disinterested, hence his rather lukewarm performances. However the Mahrez of 15/16 was simply amazing and I would not be surprised, if he gets back to that level if he is in the right environment.

 

[Rimaal]

Agree with your logic. Not doubting mahrez's quality. Just can't see Wenger not trying to balance the books. Even if we sign mahrez, lemar, mbappe along with lacazette...you really think Sanchez or Özil will be kept?

Sorry to sound pessimistic but we've been down a similar road before.

Hope we've turned a corner I'll guess we'll see on September 1st.

We're not signing Mbappe. And it's either Lemar or Mahrez.
I don't see a problem.

 

[every little thing]

We have at least 100m to spend this summer...So far we have bought Lacazette for 50m and there are still 50m to be spend.... So for those questioning we won't buy a big player as a rotation, where are we gonna spend with those money? You don't spend 50m on average player... I'm sure we will buy at least another big player. This hasn't include the sales of some players like Lucas, ospina, Gibbs and maybe Walcott and Sanchez. We are far from done in transfer market.

 

[Big Poppa]

The going got tough when a Leicester side that feasibly could have been relegated found themselves top of the league over the festive period. He played out of his skin for the next 5 months, helped them win the league and was awarded PFA player of the year. I don't subscribe to that claim at all to be honest.

As you pointed out, nobody expected anything of them that season. Mahrez was often left 1-on-1 against fullbacks which you no longer see. You saw what happened once teams wised up. Defence and counter attack was the bedrock of that team. Mahrez was given a platform that he duly exploited with tremendous skill but he went AWOL once teams dropped deeper and he was required to put in a bigger shift.

Does he have phenomenal ability? Ofcourse. But is that where we've been failing? Once Kante was sold they were left exposed and with nobody to go get him the ball, Mahrez was next to useless. That's why I think we need ball winners to supplement people like (potentially) him and Özil. They aren't going to shift the momentum of a game you are losing. My argument is simply that we do not have enough of those players, especially if we lose Sanchez.

 

[Rex Stone]

Last year it was clear that he did not want to be at Leicester and was completely disinterested, hence his rather lukewarm performances. However the Mahrez of 15/16 was simply amazing and I would not be surprised, if he gets back to that level if he is in the right environment.

After signing a contract extension in the summer?

 

[HairSprayGooners]

Last year it was clear that he did not want to be at Leicester and was completely disinterested, hence his rather lukewarm performances. However the Mahrez of 15/16 was simply amazing and I would not be surprised, if he gets back to that level if he is in the right environment.

He wouldn't have signed a new contract if he didn't want to be there. If Alexis signs a new deal will you be saying the same about him?

 

[samshere]

Its very diffcult to judge attacking players when the team as a whole is on the backfoot. The attack will flourish only when they've got a chance to do so. If the team is collectively under the cosh then the attackers will be in their own half defending. Thats the reason people like Özil seem to disappear in tougher matches. This is also why, I think Mahrez didn't do as well last year. He didn't suddenly become ****, but when the team is struggling attacking players usually will find it difficult to shine. Give him Arsenal's possession oriented play and you'll see him return back to his 2014-15 form.

 

[Anders Harbo]

@GDeep™ ???

 

[Camron]

He wouldn't have signed a new contract if he didn't want to be there. If Alexis signs a new deal will you be saying the same about him?

Mahrez was ok being comfortable and taking the extra money avoiding fan backlash. Simple choice. Alexis worries less about fan backlash im sure and he's not one for getting comfortable. If he stays w/o extending it's because Wenger won't bow. If he extends the deal is simple too good to walk away from (ie he can leave for cheap in a year while filling his pockets and being the star in a team that will be built with the purpose of making him excel).